Zern: A Book of Feels.

By Edgar Foo

zern is a collection of poetry that journals a Singaporean writer with an insatiable hunger for travel, life, and love. In these poems, Edgar explores his deep fascination with the sights and sounds that have taken his breath away, whether in wintry forests or on quiet, sunny walks home. His words walk readers down a memory lane of growth through joy and struggle, and every verse ultimately celebrates the raw power that poetry has in encapsulating the fleeting moments that make life worth living.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Nov 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543747348

Edgar Foo

Edgar is an award winning poet who has clinched the 2nd prize in the International Torrance Legacy Creative Awards in 2013 and the 1st prize in the Singapore National Poetry Competition in 2015. As an avid blogger, photographer and content creator, he is fluent in three languages and believes iced coffee is the eternal answer to all of life’s little mysteries.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 Edgar Foo. All rights reserved.

ISBN

978-1-5437-4735-5 (sc)

978-1-5437-4734-8 (e)

Illustrations by Zhang Yiran

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

11/30/2018

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for mom, dad

and everyone who taught me

how to live, love and be loved.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

i found poetry when i was eleven.

back then, i knew it as nothing more than a bunch of rhymes and hard words.

now, poetry holds a special place in my heart and mind.

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poetry is powerful because it teaches us to use our words wisely. by carefully crafting our sentences, we can say so much with so little. it trains us to develop depth and value in our speech. by treating our words as a precious currency, we reflect more consciously on the ways in which they can impact the people around us. we learn to speak to inspire and make a difference.

poetry can help you find yourself. it holds up a mirror and asks you to study the person you see. how you act. how you feel. and how you will live.

poetry is also a source of strength. it helped me stay grounded in tough times. that my pain can be transformed. recycled. into something more beautiful than anger.

my words remind me that i am still a young artist with much to see and learn. with each poem i am made more aware of that which makes me ignorant, and in this way my horizons expand.

poetry is a way of life. it is an exercise of mindfulness, and it is humbling.

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zern is a collection of poems that i’ve written since i was fifteen

for me, zern is not just a memoir of my youth, but also a dip into my subconscious

my poems dig deep into the essence of love, people, and travel. i use them to capture and fossilize fleeting moments so that their significance may be remembered. they help me build memories.

as i write, i manifest the philosophy that i do not ‘make’, but ‘let’. poetry is not about crafting the most